You’re absolutely right on your point about poachers.

Also, there is talk of McGraw Hill acquiring LinkedIn (http://www.enterpriseweb2.com/?p=246).

There’s no doubt that sales professionals can no longer ignore Web 2.0 (and Sales 2.0) as a must-have resource for prospecting, lead generation, etc. I’ve spoken with a number of colleagues (both sales and marketing) who have worked very diligently at really understanding social media and developing comprehensive programs that work with for them. As we’re still hammering out our Social Media strategy here at Salesconx, I can personally say that this is not often an easy task, and it requires a lot of dedication to fully understand and wrap your head around - especially for b2b organizations.

Love the comparison between the liberals and the conservatives - great analysis and so true.

This quote really resonated with me:
“I did have a LinkedIn connection contact me recently asking for a referral to a company on my list. I didn’t even realize I had a connection with the company. I was able to make an email introduction and the two of them are now doing business. It was as simple as this guy searching his LinkedIn connections to see if anyone had a connection to his targeted prospect.”

When we launched Salesconx, which is an online marketplace and professional network for b2b professionals to drive lead generation, deals, revenue and appointment setting, I interviewed countless seasoned sales professionals about LinkedIn. Generally, I got two responses - “I really love LinkedIn, but its done nothing for me sales wise” or “I’m on LinkedIn, but rarely use it.” The user quote in your post really speaks to the kind of connections that we’re making here at Salesconx - leveraging the extensive networks of our members to make referrals for other members. The real difference between our model and the linkedin model is that we compensate our members for each introduction that they make (referral) and in most cases, if a deal closes, they get a kicker on top of the original referral fee….

It’ll be interesting to see where the social media wave takes us in the next couple of months. I hope to see an increase in the number of resources tailored specifically for selling professionals.

Cheers,

Attiya
[http://www.salesconx.com]

I have been using an online tool, http://www.referralkey.com/. I invite the people I know and trust to join my referral network. I can then get quarterly reports to analyze and ensure those relationships are reciprocal. I also have access to my associate’s circle so I can exchange referrals with new prospects with only one degree of separation. I highly suggest it for small businesses looking to see actual results from networking.

Lisa